Jared Tallent, photo by PhotoRun.net
CAS DECISION
LAUSANNE (SUI): The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected RUSADA’s selective annulment of results achieved by six Russian athletes who were all suspended for abnormalities in their biological passports. Most notably, Sergey Kirdyapkin will now be stripped of his 2009 world title and 2012 Olympic title in the 50km walk with the CAS ruling all results obtained from 20 August 2009 to 15 October 2012 to be annulled while Yuliya Zaripova will also be stripped of her 2011 world title and 2012 Olympic title in the steeplechase with the disqualification of all results from 20 July 2011 to 25 July 2013. Likewise, the CAS has also disqualified all results achieved by Sergey Bakulin from 25 February 2011 to 24 December 2012; all results achieved by Olga Kaniskina from 15 August 2009 to 15 October 2012; and all results achieved by Valeriy Borchin from 14 August 2009 to 15 October 2012. Vladimir Kanaykin is declared ineligible for a period of eight years starting on 17 December 2012 with all results from 25 February 2011 to 17 December 2012 annulled.
LAUSANNE (SUI): More from the CAS statement: “The IAAF challenged what it felt was a “selective” disqualification of results, submitting that all results achieved by the athletes from the date of their first abnormal sample to the date they accepted a provisional suspension should be disqualified. In each case, the appeal filed by the IAAF has been upheld and the decision issued by the Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency for each athlete has been modified.”
MONACO (MON): The IAAF reacted to the CAS decision. “The IAAF is grateful to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the decisions it published today upholding the IAAF’s appeals concerning the cases of six international-level Russian athletes: Olga Kaniskina, Yuliya Zaripova, Sergey Bakulin, Valeriy Borchin, Vladimir Kanaykin and Sergey Kirdyapkin. The IAAF will immediately proceed to the effective disqualification of results, re-rankings and reallocation of medals in all competitions under its control. With respect to the Olympic Games, the IAAF will inform the International Olympic Committee of the CAS decisions and request the disqualification of results and the reallocation of medals.”
MOSCOW (RUS): The All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) has accepted the CAS decision to annul the results of the six Russian athletes in question, reports TASS. “The decision is final and is not a subject to appeals. The All-Russia Athletics Federation accepts it for enforcement. The ARAF is confident that the implacable fight against doping in the national field and track athletics will yield its results and Russians will be able to return to the world family of athletics,” they said in a statement. Interestingly the lawyer of the Russian athletes Lucien Valloni said for R-Sport he might appeal the decision of CAS to Highest Court of Switzerland.
MELBOURNE (AUS): With Kirdyapkin’s disqualification, Jared Tallent looks set to be upgraded to gold in the 50km walk from the 2012 Olympic Games ahead of China’s Si Tianfeng and Ireland’s Robert Heffernan. “History has been rewritten…. I am Olympic champion!” he said on Twitter. The new 1-2-3 in the steeplechase: Habiba Ghribi, Sofia Assefa, Milcah Chemos with Ghribi becoming the first Tunisian woman to claim an Olympic title.
LAUSANNE (SUI): European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen said on twitter he plans to re-award the medals which will be now re-allocated after recents CAS decision at the European Championships 2016 in Amsterdam.
